Customer Reviews

Deeper than Desire

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Lady Olivia Hopkins needs a rich husband. Her number one candidate is the Earl of Salisbury. The Earl of Salisbury is looking for a wife and a legitimate heir. The Earl of Salisbury is also trying to heal the broken relationship he has with his only son, the illegitimate Phillip Paxton. Phillip Paxton loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Phillip Paxton. The Earl of Salisbury loves Olivia's cousin, the common Miss Winnie Stewart. Do you have all that? I agree! Yes indeed, what a tangled web Ms. Holt weaves.

But what are a few love connections without a little malice? So add Olivia's wicked, promiscuous, stepsister Penelope. Ah yes, little Penny who happens to enjoy any fellow in long pants! To complete the entire spoof, throw in the conniving, evil stepmother. Oh, let's call her Margaret. But wait, tally in some very focused sex scenes and bingo you have Cheryl Holt's "Deeper Than Desire" in a nut shell. A story that skyrockets into a maze of frustration and nonsense.

I may have turned the pages, but the entire read was frustrating, and in the end the author truly disappointed me. Having read several of Cheryl Holt's novels I know this author can do much better.

Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

This book was the most frustrating romance novel I have ever read! I have been reading romance for 20 years now and this novel was without a doubt the most trying piece of written work I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Ms. Holt's characters where SO cowardly, her plot thin and completely exhausting. The whole time I was reading this book (hoping it would get better) I wanted to shout at Olivia, TELL MARGRET TO TAKE A HIKE! YOU ARE NOT RELATED TO HER! I also wanted to shout at Olivia TELL PHILLIP WHAT IS GOING ON YOU SIMPERING IDIOT! HE WILL HELP YOU! But my silent ranting would have fallen on deaf ears. I kept reading this book thinking to myself that something grand had to happen soon and that the story would finally take flight, but to my great disappointment it never did. The ending was even worse! The author uses up 5 or 6 pages for Phillip's inner thoughts when he sees Olivia again, and their reunion was hurried and very anti-climatic. The bottom line is: save your money and your time with this one. This was my first read of Ms. Holt's and although I am hesitant to pick up another novel written my her.....I might give her another try. But only because, sometimes, bad things happen to good people.

I have read all of Cheryl Holt's books and have enjoyed them very much. This book, however, I cannot recommend to anyone. It was truly awful. I actually felt the author insulting my intelligence with this wafer thin plot. I can't begin to tell you how many times I wanted to scream at the characters. JUST TELL HIM WHAT'S GOING ON, YOU MORON! Seriously. This is just an awful book. It would like to be erotic but after about the first 50 pages it is not; it would like to be romantic but the most believable romance in the book is between the older characters; it would like to be suspenseful and unpredictable but if you are genuinely surprised by the ending then you obviously don't read much.

I truly felt this was an awful book, poorly executed, and obviously written only to satisfy a publisher and not a loyal reader. I have given it 2 stars because Cheryl Holt is a better author than this book would indicate.

Setting - England, 1813 --- Lady Olivia Hopkins and her extended family are visiting at the home of the widowed Edward Paxton, Earl of Salisbury. The visit has been planned and orchestrated by her step-mother Margaret with the planned intention that Lord Salisbury propose and marry Olivia thereby, saving the impoverished but blue-blood family from ruin. Disturbed over being forced to marry a man she is not in love with and not able to sleep, Olivia peruses the library and comes upon a book of pure erotica. She is both fascinated, shocked and aroused by what she is seeing and settles in to study the pictures - purely from an artistic point of view - having never before seen a male nude body. She is observed at this and caught in the act by a disturbingly handsome man who she later discovers is the earl's illegitimate son, Phillip. Olivia is instantly attracted to his dangerously dark looks but soon realizes that he does not have the means to save her financially strapped family from ruin. Although, in matters of the heart, worldly concerns never do seem to matter and Phillip and Olivia continue their clandestine affair as Phillip indoctrinates her in some very erotic foreplay.

In the meantime, Olivia's cousin Winnie, whose meek and subservient demeanor hides a very passionate woman who has been trying to live down her mistakes of the past, is also being tempted by the undeniable attraction experienced between herself and the Earl. This attraction, was doomed from the very start based upon her lack of blue blood and common status, but again - that did not prevent matters of the heart and lust to catapult them both into a very passionate and surreptitious affair.

Lastly, there is another family member of this group, Margaret's daughter Penolope. A sly, feisty, and very promiscuous 16 year old in whom her mother Margaret has great marital plans, but whose personal taste tends to run to stable lads. Penolope, playing with fire once too often, attracts the attention of a very dishonorable and dangerous man who seduces and plans to use Penelope for his own gains.

Now if the above doesn't whet your appetite than you are looking at the wrong book. Cheryl Holt gives us a fully robust and tantalizing tale that will both amuse and excite the senses in a most pleasurable way. Olivia's obnoxious step-mother, was so nasty I wanted to jump in myself and choke her, that is after I gave her spawn Penelope a swift kick in the butt! But of course, this is what made this a total read for me - two really nice love stories, characters depicted in such a way that they engage all of the readers emotions, AND, on top of all this, she delivers a wonderful serving of deeply hot and sensual foreplay in a way one can depend on when reading her novels. Bottom line - Cheryl Holt remains on the top of my list for hot, and spicy historical romance reads! --- Marilyn, for www.romancedesigns.com

Olivia Hopkins comes from an aristocratic family, possesses a spotless reputation and has a "Lady" attached to her name, what she does not have is money. So, when a handsome stranger catches her reading an erotic book in her fiancee's library, she sees her plan to marry the wealthy Earl crumble. Phillip Paxton, stable master and illegitimate son, is enthralled by Olivia and decides to show her the pleasures the book only hints at. Now Olivia must decide what is important to her-love or money?
For those readers who enjoy a spicier romance, Cheryl Holt's "Deeper Than Desire" delivers. There is a lot of very graphic sex, yet the novel still manages to have a plot, if maybe left a bit in the background. All in all, it was an entertaining read, and if you are in the mood for a sexier historical, this one is for you.

You are always gauranteed a good read when you pick up anything by Ms. Holt. Her stories are complex involve many different storylines (this one has 3), and always interesting characters!

In Ms. Holt's latest Olivia Hopkins is being forced into seeking a marriage proposal from the Earl of Salisbury in order to save her her stepmother, stepsister, and cousin by marriage, as well as the (...) daughter of her brother from ruin. Not a small matter considering the fact that she has fallen in love with the Earl's (...) son Phillip. Phillip is everything she could love in a man except that he does not have the means to take care of all of her family.

When Phillip first meets Olivia looking at a very scandalous book he sees a chance to hurt his father. What happens in reality is that he is drawn to her goodness and heart. He can't believe how attracted he is to her. Now he must look the other way since he knows why Olivia is there at his father's estate, and he knows that he can't help. While these two fight for a love they know they can't have they are also having to deal with Olivia's nasty stepmother and stepsister. They both have an agenda that they will move heaven and earth to obtain. Caught in the middle will be the Earl of Salisbury and Winnie.

This was a great story. The characters were great and the chemistry between Olivia and Phillip as well as Earl of Salisbury and Winnie was explosive. This is a must read you won't want to miss!

In 1813, though she detests the deception and that the target is a much older man, twenty-three years old Olivia Hopkins knows her extended family needs her to marry Edward, the Earl of Bristol. While in the Earl's library late at night, Olivia finds an erotica book that entices her until she is caught by Edward's wrong side of the sheet son Philip Paxton.

As her stepmother pushes Olivia towards Edward, Olivia and Philip have an affair taking pages out of that reference tome she had found. Soon Olivia falls in love with Philip, but he sees her as a means of revenge for his sire hiding him from anyone who matters. However, Philip finds revenge is not as sweet as the love he feels for Olivia, but will the couple find a path to change their illicit affair into a warm lasting legal relationship?

Though the stepmother is too crazy to even heed anything she says, Regency romance fans will enjoy this erotic tale of forbidden love that feels and is right. The story line is fun to follow especially when the lead couple is hiding their tryst from everyone especially his father and her loony stepmother. Readers will enjoy the moment that Philip realizes that his love is DEEPER THAN DESIRE for vengeance. Cheryl Holt turns up the heat with this superior historical

Harriet Klausner

Wow. What can I say? I have read half of the book and don't want to finish it. The characters are pathetic and boring. How did this get published. I had already bought the book before I read the reviews or I wouldn't have. Use this book to start your bonfires.

I think this could have been a good story. The plot was definitely doable. But the problem was that there were too many characters. And some of them were...well, a bit dumb. Not stupid, just a tad dumb. A lot could have been done with the two main characters and the storyline, but it was ruined by all these other characters who were impossible to relate to.

This was a very stressful story. Why in the world did he have so many characters and different plots going on. I have never read anything like this in my life. It simply made no sense. There were so many characters in the book, that I forgot who the main characters where. When I read the back of the book I though the main characters would be Olivia and Phillip. However, there was so many couples and so much mess and confusion I actually forgot who the main characters were. I don't know how I got through to the end. The main characters should have been Edward and Winnie. All I have to say is don't waste your time and money on this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!